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How's Healthcare Working?
It had been a very long time since I'd seen the inside of a Canadian hospital - not since before my return to the country, in fact. And with some of the horror stories I'd been hearing (mostly, it must be said, from proponents of two-tier healthcare) about the level of service going on inside them, I was hoping to keep it that way.
So it was naturally with more than a small bit of apprehension then that I checked myself into Emergency at the Toronto Western Hospital Saturday. That I had a four centimetre hole in my leg however, more than helped me get over any fears I may have had.
I hobbled in expecting the worst: a two month wait-time for stitches; dogs growling their way to the front of the MRI line; and a SARS infected greeter at the door coughing on me. I experienced none of that.
From the time I entered the building until I left was only a few minutes over three hours - not bad, given that it was nearly midnight, and that there were plenty of people much worse off than I was. For entertainment, I had a slew of magazines plus Hockey Night In Canada (Oilers versus the Blackhawks, if you must know). The doctor came in, did her diagnosis, sitched me up, and sent me on my way. No muss, no fuss, all good.
It was not until the next morning that I realized how lucky I was. If I was in the US, I wouldn't have a safety net like OHIP protecting me. It's doubtful, given my employment (no offence blogTO) that I would have medical insurance. I did some checking around, and the five stiches put into my leg at a hospital emergency room would have probably run me about US$900 - and that's not even including getting them taken out. Our system isn't perfect - there's plenty of places to improve - but at least I didn't have to choose between having my leg fixed and eating for the week.
That eases the pain considerably.
***
Hopefully this is just going to be a one off - however should I find myself playing around with a boxcutter again, I'll make sure to do a review of a different hospital for next time.
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I'm sorry you cut yourself open in the leg, that sucks!
And amazing, yeah the US healthcare system can be messed up, but you can get freedom in picking doctors. I guess it all depends on what health insurance you have.
FEEL BETTER SOON!
~Allison (aka allilicious)
I visited few times a doctor in Toronto and I had no problem to get to him at all - I just walked in to 'walk in' clinic....
So tell me do you have to WAIT for a long time to get to your doctor????
I'm not talking about specialists - it's normal everywhere - but usual, NORMAL doctor?
When I need to see my GP, I give his office a call in the morning, and generally have an appointment by sometime early that afternoon.
Is that too long? I don't think so - he does have other patients, afterall.
My advice is to go to the nicest hospital you can, even if there's a crappy one close by.
As for GP, I generally have to wait less than a week for an appointment.
There were already 5 people ahead of me and 3 critical cases that bumped all of us. I asked the doctor and nurses and they all said that it was the same every night.
There were people lined up and down the corridors of the emergency ward. It was like walking through the insanity on an episode of ER.
I think it's because they closed NorthWestern that all emergency cases are routed to Humber River. In any case, once you're in, they treat you very well and have excellent bedside manner.